Deployment · 6:28pm Feb 5th, 2017
Hello,
It's been a long time since I posted a blog entry. Now that I look at it, I realize I have eight blog posts and eight stories. I see a correlation. I can't wait until I have fifty blog posts.
But I feel I should explain why my output has been different the past few months. Why I would seemingly abandon my most popular story at the time, Dreams of the Heart, and publish some short one-shots. Well, I have a very good reason for my activity over the past seven months - I was deployed.
I really can't go into details, but suffice it to say I was extremely tiring work. I often found myself working seven days a week. In December the only day I had off was Christmas. (Which explains my author's note to Merry Christmas!!! why I said I was in a place that didn't celebrate Christmas). My writing time was extremely limited as you can imagine. Much of what I published I actually had written before I left. I put them away for a rainy day which, incidentally, you don't get too many of in the desert. And what writing I did do I focused on short comedy stories. I didn't feel I had the time, focus, or energy to write Dreams of the Heart. Since I returned to the States a few days ago, I am at liberty to let you all know about the circumstances surrounding my pseudo-absence.
So, where do I go from here? I'll be honest. I'm not the same person who left the US seven months ago. I've changed. I've grown. I've learned more about myself. I've been pushed to the very limits of my endurance and sanity. I have returned, but I really don't feel I've come home. I'm not exactly sure where I go from here. I will go to work, do PT, cook meals, go to the movies, sleep in my own bed. But it just doesn't seem the same....
I should explain my upcoming plans. First, I'm taking some hard-earned post-deployment leave. But what about my writing? Well, here's my battle plan:
1) I have some short comedies I started towards the very end of my deployment and during my travels back to the States. I finished several of them the past few days and they are currently being edited. One is a Hearts and Hooves Day centered story, so expect it to be published around Valentine's Day. Another one centers on a holiday I invented: Prank Day. (Okay, it is a MLP take on April Fool's Day). I am pleased with how they turned out and I'm sure you'll enjoy them.
2) I have a few other short comedies I want to roll out. I'm sure I will have the three of them punched out after a few days of writing.
3) I left What About Us? unfinished. As it is only meant to be a two-part story, and I'm halfway through Chapter 2, I really feel I should finish it since I'm so close.
4) I do want to pick up again with Dreams of the Heat. Before I deployed I had the story planned out to Chapter 40. While I was over there, I came up with some changes that I think will improve the story. But I'm going to need some time to get back in the swing of things. I'm still pretty tired, and I don't think I can or should write this story when I'm not able to focus and give it my best. I'll pick up on it after I finish the short comedies and complete What About Us?
5) I also plan to work on Lost Pegasus. I hit a wall with my writing, so I'm going to have to figure out where to go with it.
6) I have some ideas for some other good stories, two of which I plan on starting in a few weeks. I'll let you all know when I start publishing them.
7) Finally, I hope to work on some collabs and do more editing.
I thank you for understanding my situation and your patience with my slowed output. I hope you have a wonderful day. Go Patriots! (Okay, I'm not a Patriots fan. But I would like to see history made with Tom Brady being the first QB to win five Superbowls. Sorry Falcons fans. I hope you understand.)
Keep Writing,
Dreadnought
4410326
Thanks. I think? I don't speak German besides knowing the German word for "beer", so I'm not sure what your post reads.
Dreadnought
4410343
Okay, that explains a lot. Thanks for the intel.
BTW, I remembered a funny story I think you'll appreciate. Several years ago I visited Versailles (the palace, not the town in Kentucky). During our tour, the guide took us to the Hall of Mirrors. The French guide went on and on about how this was the place where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. He related how It was here in 1918 that the French punished the wicked Germans who invaded their country and set off World War One. The poor French fought off the Germans and wrote the Treaty that brought peace to the world.
I leaned over to my companion and told them in 1870 the French declared war on the Prussians. And in 1871 the victorious Germans declared the foundation of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors. Needless to say the French tourists around us gave me the dirtiest looks they could. Probably thought I was the ugly American. Oh well.
I'm really interested in history, and have a problem with PC and inaccuracies. I recently worked with some Brits. They bragged about how great a leader Winston Churchill was. I reminded them that Winston Churchill's mother was American. You can imagine how well that went over.
Dreadnought